Justin Welby said he felt honoured to be part of the IPPR’s commission on economic justice.
Photograph: Neil Hall/Reuters

The archbishop of Canterbury will spend the next two years as part of a commission launched by a left-leaning thinktank that aims to rewrite the rules for Britain’s post-Brexit economy.

Justin Welby will join other leading figures including the general secretary of the TUC, Frances O’Grady, and the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, Sir Charlie Mayfield, on the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) programme that will seek remedies for six key UK weaknesses.

Launching its commission on Thursday, the IPPR said the apparent success of the economy masked fundamental problems: weak investment compared with rival countries; a huge trade deficit; a budget deficit that would get bigger as the population ages; the capture of the fruits of growth by a small minority; the gap between the south-east and the rest of the country; and poor progress in meeting the UK’s climate change ambitions.

The IPPR said none of the six problems identified were a recent phenomenon, with each getting worse for at least a quarter of a century.

Tom Kibasi, the IPPR director, said: “The economy belongs to us all but it isn’t working for everyone. We need a new national economic vision and policy that the whole country can get behind.

“The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump shows we must build an economy with economic justice at its heart. The problems we face aren’t temporary weaknesses in an otherwise sound model.

“The foundations of our economy need to be rethought and the rules of the economy need to be rewritten. We need big, bold and ambitious change. Rethinking by half just won’t do.”

The thinktank said a specially commissioned YouGov poll showed that 51% of Britons thought the UK economy was unfair for the majority.

The IPPR’s move has echoes of the thinktank’s commission on social justice, which deliberated in the 1990s and was seen as preparing the ground for Tony Blair’s government when it came to power in 1997.

The IPPR believes its new investigation into Britain’s deep-seated problems will also be of interest to the government, which has said it wants to make the economy work for the whole country. Sources said Downing Street was keenly interested in the commission’s work.

Welby said: “I am very pleased and honoured to be part of the commission on economic justice. I believe this is a unique opportunity to reflect on the vision for our economy for the next 20 years and, in a time of significant change and uncertainty, seek to put our economy on a foundation of values and virtues.

“I am hopeful that this commission’s work can lead to a tangible and hopeful set of recommendations, that go beyond party politics and make the case for an economy that delivers for the common good.”